Friday, November 30, 2012

First Red Flag

5 pounds and 11 ounces. So tiny, but I felt comfortable with her size because I had stayed with my bestie for two weeks when her twins were that small. It came time for her first feeding, and the nurse handed me a bottle. I asked what a normal amount for her to take was, and she said around an ounce. I put the bottle in Amelia's mouth, and she started sucking. She drank a half ounce. "Good girl."

The maternity ward was full so they weren't able to give us a private room until the following day. So we were in the nursery all day, which meant we were on display all day. We took turns making phone calls to friends and family with updates and filled the rest of our time with major snuggles. Three hours passed quickly and it was time for Amelia to eat again. The nurse noticed my ease with Amelia's size and didn't watch me give her a bottle after the first feeding. Chris was with me, and the three of us had some family time in the nursery. Well, us and our spectators on the other side of the window.

Suddenly, truly out of nowhere, Amelia stopped sucking and her entire face turned blue. Her eyes. Her cheeks. Her lips. Blue. I simultaneously flung her forward over my hand, began beating her back, and told Chris to get a nurse. As quickly as she turned blue, she turned pink again, and by the time Chris and the nurse returned Amelia appeared to be fine. The nurse asked if she was ok, and I said "She is now." The nurse never examined her. Just took my word for it and left. She said to let them know if it happened again.

A very scary moment, and the first of many red flags that would be dismissed by nurses and doctors.

Since we couldn't sleep at the hospital that night, unless we wanted the squeaky waiting room chairs again, the nurses encouraged us to get a motel room, get some sleep, and let them care for her that night. Sounded good to us. I changed Amelia's diaper one more time before we left and said goodnight. What a thrilling day! What could make it any better?

As I leaned in to kiss her goodbye, she let out a long, high pitched sigh like she was doing a vocal warm up. I looked at Chris, "Did you hear that?" So of course I responded and copied her sound back to her. The tiny baby that was less than 8 hours old blessed my heart and soul by letting out another identical sigh. With a crackled voice I looked at Chris and said, "I love this girl."

1 comment:

Interesting how if they don't observe something, it often gets ignored. I had what seemed to be a seizure just hours after MP's birth, but it happened in the bathroom and only Rob saw it. We called the nurse immediately, but no one ever followed up. Turned out I had the retained placenta, which we didn't discover 'til 6 weeks later.So thankful for the progress in your sweet girl...and loving reading the story! Thank you for taking the time and emotional energy to share it.Merry Christmas to your dear family-of-3!